Cox Cable Adds Wireless Phone Service

Starting today, Cox cable customers in Northern Virginia can get wireless telephone servicefrom the company. Cox Communications launched a new wireless service through a partnership with Sprint Nextel in Fairfax County and Fredericksburg. The service, called Pivot, is part of Cox's "quad-play" communications package that also offers cable, phone and Internet services.

The Pivot service will allow customers to access their digital cable, e-mail, Internet and home phone through their cellphones. Subscribers can also download songs from Sprint's music store, play video games and get a text message on their cellphones every time a voice mail is left at their home number.

Other cable providers such as Advance Newhouse, Comcast and Time Warner have also partnered with Sprint to add wireless services to their bundled packages. Northern Virginia is the third region to offer the Pivot service, which works with all Sprint handsets. The Pivot brand also benefits Reston-based Sprint by allowing the company to get into the cable market.

Verizon offers a similar package in the Washington area that combines all its communications services, including wireless.

--Kim Hart

(Kim previously wrote about the Cox-Sprint arrangement. Here's a link to her story.)